Melik Janoyan

Armenian javelin thrower Melik Janoyan has been setting a plethora of national records for the last six years, adding almost 20 metres to the country's best mark since he first threw over 60 metres in 2005.

His first national record was 61.22m, produced when winning at the 2005 Armenian national championships, and now he stands on the verge of breaking through the elite 80- metre barrier after going into new territory again with 79.71m at the Lunev Memorial Meeting, the Russian Winter Throwing Cup, at the Black Sea venue of Adler on Saturday.

“I don't feel 80 metres is far away. I would like to do it at the European Cup Winter Throwing in Montenegro next month,” said Janoyan, who finished second in Adler behind the Russia's evergreen 2003 world champion Sergey Makarov.

The 2012 European Cup Winter Throwing will be in the Montenegrin town of Bar on 17-18 March.

Janoyan also wants to redeem himself in Bar after he travelled to last year's event in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and failed to register a valid mark. However, he did finish third in the under 23 competition back in 2007 when he rose to the occasion and set the first of four national records within the space of 10 weeks.

He also hopes to make his mark at this summer's European Athletics Championships in Helsinki and making the final, after not getting beyond the qualifying competition at the 2008 Olympic Games and 2009 World Championships.

“I'm looking forward to Helsinki as I have never been to a European Athletics Championships and I expect to achieve new successes there,” he added.

If Janoyan can be counted among the top 12 javelin throwers in Helsinki, it would be a milestone for Armenian athletics as no athlete from the country has made a European Athletics Championships final since independence was recognised in 1991.

However, there were a number of European Athletics Championships successes when Armenian athletes wore the vest of the former Soviet Union, notably the memorable long jump victory of Robert Emmiyan in 1986.

Emmiyan remains the European long jump record holder with the 8.86m that he jumped in Tsakhkadzor in 1987 and today he is the president of the Armenian athletics federation

source:european-athletics